''Oxford, U.S.A.'' is a 16 mm

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...

about the integration of the

University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi (byname Ole Miss) is a public research university that is located adjacent to Oxford, Mississippi, and has a medical center in Jackson. It is Mississippi's oldest public university and its largest by enrollment. ...

in 1962. It promotes the segregationist cause by arguing that the federal government violated the

U.S. Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven articles, it delineates the natio ...

it prohibitted segregation in public schools. Three prints of the film were purchased by the Mississippi Sovereignty Commission, a state agency established to defend and promote Mississippi's segregation practices against federal intervention in the wake of the

U.S. Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

's Brown v. Board of Education decision. A leader of the commission was scheduled to speak after a showing of the film. The commission also funded the 1960 film ''

The Message from Mississippi ''The Message from Mississippi'' is a state-sponsored 1960 segregationist propaganda film produced by the Mississippi Sovereignty Commission, a state government agency established to promote and defend segregation in the wake of the Brown v. Board ...

'' promoting the segregationist "way of life". The forty three minute, 16 mm film, produced by Patrick M. Sims of Sims Associates, a

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County w ...

based company, includes news footage and interviews with officials and politicians including Governor Ross Barnett, Lieutenant Governor Paul B. Johnson, Jr., and Attorney General Joe T. Patterson. According to the University of Mississippi libraries, the film was advertised with screenings on April 24, 26, and 27, 1963. Sovereignty Commission Director's reports catalogue its speakers bureau, pamphlets, newspaper propaganda program, and plans for an advertisement promoting the segregationist cause as well as screenings of the film.

References

{{italic title 1963 films Documentaries about historical events Oxford, Mississippi University of Mississippi